


Coloured Words

by lln



Series: JATP Appreciation Week 2020 [6]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Caleb, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bad Parenting, Fluff and Angst, Homophobic Language, JATP Appreciation Week 2020, M/M, Not Beta Read, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:48:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27451516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lln/pseuds/lln
Summary: Alex is one of the few special people born with a soulmate mark. However, unfortunately at a young age the mark fades and leaves a scar, indicating that his soulmate has died. Alex knew he wasn’t meant to be happy.
Relationships: Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms)
Series: JATP Appreciation Week 2020 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1997095
Comments: 16
Kudos: 231
Collections: JATP Appreciation Week





	Coloured Words

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [JATP Appreciation Week](https://jatp-week.tumblr.com/) on tumblr.  
>  **DAY 6 | Write a fic with your favourite fanfiction trope.**

Everyone knew about the stories of soul marks, those lucky few born with a name written on their wrist of the person that they were destined to love and be loved by. The name was written in grey, that was until you met your soulmate, then the name changed to your soulmate’s favourite colour when you touched each other for the first time. Or so the stories went. Soulmarks were so rare that there wasn’t much research into how they really worked.   
  
Alex was one of those lucky few. Born with the name _William_ written in blocky handwriting on his right wrist, it was one of the first words he learnt to read and recognise. But as happy as his parents were that he was special and he had a soulmate, there was unsaid tension between the two of them. His mother was supportive as much as she could be, but his father was distant and cold. It wasn't until Alex was six that he learnt why, the memory forever seared into his young mind.  
  


* * *

  
  
Six year old Alex was too excited to sleep, in the next few days he would be starting school. Ever since he could remember, his parents hadn’t really allowed him to play with other kids and even when he did, his father had always made sure he had a leather cuff attached to his wrist that he was forbidden to take off in front of others, under threat of punishment. It hid his mark, something that made Alex sad and nervous. His father would always put it on too tight, which would leave red markings for days.  
  
But soon he would be going to big boy school and his mother had even said that she would talk to father about not wearing the cuff to school. Alex quietly walked down the stairs and headed towards the kitchen for a drink, but he stopped when he heard voices talking. He crouched against the hallway wall and listened as his parents argued loudly.  
  
"Mark please," He heard mother beg, "Let’s at least talk about this. Think about what's best for Alex, is our local standing more important than our son’s happiness? Let him love whoever he wants, for all we know, he’ll never even meet this _William_."  
  
"I am Allison, no son of mine will be a flaming _homosexual_ ," His father hissed at his wife, spitting the last word out like a curse, "That name will bring this family nothing but trouble and shame. Once they find out about his mark, how will we look to the neighbours? Work colleagues? My boss? The church? No, my mind is made up! I'll take him to the centre tomorrow and they will remove the mark. No one needs to ever know about that _thing_ on his wrist."  
  
“You’ll be destroying a part of him,” His mother sobbed, “Why would you want to do that? What if he hates you when he grows up, what if he never forgives you?”  
  
His father was silent and Alex peered around the edge of the doorway hoping to catch a glimpse of the man. His father ran a hand through his hair and sighed, “I can live with Allison. He can hate me all he wants but I’m looking out for what’s best for this family. I will not stand for my own flesh and blood loving the same gender under my roof. My decision’s final.”  
  
Alex crept out back down the hallway and back towards his bedroom, his drink totally forgotten. He frowned at the words his father was saying, not really understanding what they meant. Looking down at his wrist, he traced the name, Alex didn't think _William_ was a bad name and so what if it was a boy's name, boy’s were awesome, Alex would love to spend all his time with another boy, all he had at the moment was a sister and she was no fun at all. Girls weren't fun to play with either, they all had cooties.  
  
Alex got back into bed and tried to go to sleep, but his mind was going a million miles an hour. His father’s words repeating themselves over and over again, Alex couldn’t understand how loving someone could be wrong. It was nearly 3 in the morning before Alex was finally able to drift off.  
  
The trip to the center never happened.   
  
The next morning, Alex woke up screaming in pain and all the noise he made caused mother to come rushing into his bedroom still in her pajamas, worry etched into her face.  
  
“Honey, what’s wrong,” She came and sat on the edge of his bed, her hands reaching to comfort her son.  
  
“It hurts,” Alex cried, tears streaming down his face, as he pushed his wrist into his mother’s open hands, “It hurts.”  
  
Allison frowned, looking down at her son’s wrist, she gasped in shock. The once grey name was slowly fading away to nothingness, the edge of the name an angry red as if someone had burnt the skin. The change in the name could only mean one thing, Alex’s soulmate had died before they even had the chance to meet.   
  
Allison wrapped her arms around the sobbing boy and comforted him the best she could, not knowing the pain he was feeling or how to make it stop.   
  
“It’s going to be alright, honey,” She whispered as she held him close and rubbed his back, “We’ll get through this. You’re going to be fine.” Allison repeated the words over and over again, not just for Alex’s sake but for her own as well, her heart breaking at the sounds he was making.   
  
Alex continued to cry, not only from the pain in his wrist but from a pain he felt deep within himself, a pain that he couldn’t put into words. It was like something broke and he didn’t know how to fix it. He curled into his mother’s embrace, his face tucked into her neck, he wanted her to fix the pain but somehow knew that she couldn’t.  
  
They stayed like that for what felt like hours. Alex’s sobs had turned into sniffles as he cried himself back to sleep. Allison layed her son back down on his bed and tucked the blankets around him. She gave him a kiss on the forehead and quietly left the bedroom to find her husband.   
  
She found him in the kitchen, sitting at the table with the newspaper out and a coffee in hand.   
  
“You’ll be happy to know that you got what you wanted and you didn't have to spend any money at all,” Allison spoke softly to her husband as she made herself a cup of strong black coffee, “Your son’s soulmark faded and scarred last night. William is dead.” Allison sat down at the opposite end of the table, letting her words sink in, “You don’t have to be ashamed anymore. No one will be able to tell that our son was to have a soulmate."  
  
"Good then," Mark scoffed and went back to his newspaper. He dropped the matter for now.  
  


* * *

  
  
Years went on and Alex grew up, he never did forget the name William and would still spend time tracing over the light scarring on his wrist when he was feeling sad. The name was hardly visible now, only if you knew it was there and where to look, could you see it. Alex never told a soul that he used to have a mark, he never saw the point.  
  
His dad’s attitude never changed towards Alex, no matter how hard he tried to please him. He went to school, got excellent grades, went to church, he was a good son but no matter what he did, his dad never looked at him with pride, love or affection. Alex knew it was because of the soulmark he used to have, just by having a boy’s name on him had tainted himself in his dad’s eyes forever. He was older enough to recognise the looks his dad would give same sex couples walking down the street hand in hand, were the same ones he would he would give Alex before hiding his mark with that leather cuff.   
  
So at age 14, Alex stopped trying to please his dad. He still did well in school - he actually liked learning - but he stopped going to church, not seeing the point of it and always found a reason to not be in the house if his dad was home. He became friends with Luke, Reggie and Bobby and started a band. _Sunset Curve_ was on its way to be a huge success! Well according to Luke anyway.  
  
At age 16, Alex took a chance on love, but was caught kissing a boy behind the high school gym. When his dad had been told from one of his church friends, he blew his top and knocked Alex around before kicking him out of the house, saying he never wanted to see him again. Alex spent the night on Bobby’s pullout couch.  
  
He spent a lot of nights on Bobby’s couch, luckily his parents were cool having a teenager crash with them. Bobby’s parents had spoken to Alex’s mum and they came to an agreement. Alex would stay at Bobby’s for the foreseeable future, at least until Alex’s mum could convince Alex’s dad to let him come home and she would pay them for the inconvenience of housing another teenage boy.  
  
He never did make it home.  
  
Alex, along with Luke and Reggie died at 17 to a hotdog and not even a good tasting one! After their death, the trio spent 25 years in a black room and in that time Alex never noticed his soulmark return to its grey colouring and the scarring disappeared.  
  


* * *

  
  
Alex wasn’t handling being a ghost very well, the lack of answers to things was driving him insane. While Luke and Reggie’s lack of concern was causing his anxiety to skyrocket. He needed to get away and breathe.   
  
Alex poofed out of the studio and found him on Hollywood Boulevard. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, focusing on slowing down his thoughts. After a few moments, he reopened his eyes only to jump in fright when he caught sight of two ghostbusters ahead of him. It was stupid to that they were here for him, Alex freaked out as they began to walk purposefully towards him.  
  
“No, no, no,” Alex whispered in fright, only for the two ghostbusters to walk straight through him, “Oh,” Alex glanced around to see if anyone saw his freak out, he then huffed and rolled his eyes at himself. He was dead, no one could see him.  
  
With a sigh, Alex started to walk down the street, his thoughts starting to roam again.  
  
Still lost in his thoughts, Alex was completely unaware of his surroundings. He gasped out in shock as someone collided with his shoulder, sending them both to the floor with a thud. Pain burst from his wrist at the contact, leaving Alex confused, while being a ghost things weren’t supposed to hurt.   
  
Alex heard the other person to his right grunt in pain as well.  
  
Alex pulled himself to his feet, while rubbing his wrist, the pain had now receded to a tingle.   
  
“Uh, man you dinged my board,” Alex heard the other person moan.  
  
“I dinged your board,” Alex huffed, “No dude,you ran me over, you’re lucky I didn’t-” Alex blinked, realizing that there was only one reason as to why this guy could have knocked him over in the first place, “Yo-you ran me over. You’re a ghost?”  
  
“Well yeah,” The other ghost unbuckled his helmet, “Ever since I learnt the hard way that skating in traffic was bad.” Alex watched, slacked jawed as the ghost removed his helmet and shook out his hair.  
  
 _‘Oh no, he’s hot.’_   
  
As they made eye contact, Alex saw something change in the other ghost’s demeanor, he no longer looked annoyed about his skateboard.  
  
“Hey, sorry I smashed into you,” He apologised. “I thought you were a _lifer_ and I’d just, like, pass through.”  
  
Alex blinked at the term, “Uh, a _lifer_?”  
  
“Uh yeah,” The other teen looked confused, “That’s what we call people who are living.”  
  
Alex nodded his understanding but was still slightly confused.  
  
“You’re new to this whole ghost thing, aren’t you?”  
  
Alex winced, “Yeah, is it that obvious?”  
  
“Totally,’ The other ghost laughed, but not in a mean way.  
  
The other ghost then stuck out his hand, “Hey uh, I’m Willie.”  
  
“Oh, uh Alex,” Alex took the offered hand and shook it.  
  
“Ah.”  
“Ow.”  
  
Both ghost’s quickly released the other’s hand and grabbed their wrists to ward off the sharp tingle. Alex looked down at his wrist and watched in shock as the grey of his soulmark changed to blue. Alex looked up to see Willie looking back at him in awe.  
  
“Alex, as in short for Alexander?” Willie asked softly, turning over his wrist to show Alex’s name written in his own handwriting and coloured pink.  
  
“Oh wow, yeah that’s me,” Alex blinked in shock at his name, gently taking a hold of Willie’s wrist to get a closer look, “I thought you died,” The blonde frowned and looked back to Willie, “Well I guess technically you did die, if you're standing here as a ghost. I’ve never heard of a faded mark regaining colour before.”  
  
Willie smiled as he listened to Alex ramble on. It was cute.  
  
“I guess that means Willie is short for William then?” Alex asked hopefully, turning over his own wrist for Willie to see.  
  
Willie traced over his own handwriting with his thumb on Alex’s wrist, “Yeah that’s my writing,” Willie looked back to Alex, “Say, you doing anything right now?”   
  
“No,” Alex tilted his head in confusion, “Why?”  
  
“Want to hang out? I could show you around and answer your ghost questions. If you have fun, maybe we could hang out again?”   
  
“Uh, okay, that sounds fine.”  
  
“And by hang out, I mean do you want to go on a date?” Willie wasn’t masking his intentions, he had been without his soulmate for years and he wasn’t going to screw this up now that he had found him.  
  
“A date sounds fun,” Alex squeaked out with a smile.  
  
“Awesome.” Willie took a hold of Alex’s hand and poofed them to one of his favourite places, he had a soulmate to woo.  
  
 **The End**

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think <3 kudos and comments keep me writting!
> 
> If you want to, come talk to me on my **[tumblr](https://llnwritings.tumblr.com/)**.


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